Category: Fund Raising

The cryptocurrency market has caught the attention of many people in recent years – from traders who want to make a quick profit to angel investors concerned about the authenticity and transparency of the system. Within the startup community, ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) have come into prominence.

So far, ICOs have helped many entrepreneurs raise funding far more rapidly than traditional avenues. Many investors too have reaped the rewards of being able to exchange an asset that would normally only realise its value when and if the business exited via trade sale or IPO.

How does an ICO work?

Before a currency is put on the market, ICOs are made available for sale as tokens, which can be converted into currency or resold as tokens once the company becomes successful. When an ICO is started, the tokens are usually sold at a very low price making it easy for investors to buy lots of them.

Once the ICO hits the exchange platforms, there are very high chances that their value will increase. Investors who bought the tokens can sell them at higher prices if there is demand.

There have been lots of success stories on ICO funding, and people are already anticipating that there will be an increase in the number of ICO fundings within the next five years. We have certainly seen a rise in the number of companies offering ICOs on Angel Investment Network in the last year or so.

Btxchange.io mentions the example of SpectreCoin in their infographic, as one of the most successful ICOs of all time with a whopping 37,175% increase in their crypto coin value.

Are ICOs all good news?

While ICOs can have advantages compared to conventional funding methods, there are some downsides that investors should be aware of.

ICOs are poorly regulated by nature, and there have been incidents of fake fundings like the Benebit case in 2017. The initiators of the coin offering scammed people into investing large sums of money, and then just disappeared with the funds, without a trace.

Also, even if the ICO is legitimate, there is no guarantee that the new coin will gain enough value for you to make a profit. It’s a gamble like any other investment!

The bottom line is that, if you are interested in ICOs, and you don’t mind taking the necessary risks, then there is an excellent opportunity to generate quick returns from startup investments. Initial coin offerings have fast returns which could double or triple your capital in just a few months.

If you are either a complementary investor or an angel investor, it’s a good time to get involved with ICOs.

Btxchange.io have produced a helpful infographic to explain the ICO landscape further:

Raising funding for your startup is, in part, a navigation problem. This is especially true when you are doing it for the first time. Entrepreneurs often focus on the problems right in front of them and so lose sight of the bigger picture. It is always helpful to approach immediate problems with knowledge of the lie of the land ahead.

This infographic on how startup funding works is one of my all-time favourites. It neatly and concisely sets out a typical map of what a fundraising journey looks like over the lifetime of a successful company.

In the past few years, there has been a dramatic surge in interest relating to so-called ‘impact’ companies and investments. Public awareness and concern for global economic, environmental and social issues are at an all-time high. We attribute this in part to the so-called ‘Blue Planet Effect‘ and in part, to the ever more ominous severity of the issues we face. As a result, institutions like United Nations have set out strategies like their Sustainable Development Goals to help solve these issues (more on these below).

The data from Angel Investment Network‘s 1 million users reflect this growth in interest. We’ve seen an astonishing 250% increase in the number of investors interested in the Greentech & Environment industry in the UK since 2016. The number of companies raising money who define themselves as ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ has blown up at a similar rate.

And we don’t expect this interest to dwindle anytime soon. Our newest product, Seedtribe, was built to support investors and companies in the ‘impact’ sector. In a previous post, I described how Seedtribe is encouraging investors to commit more to this space and I defined ‘impact’ in this context as:

…when an investor backs a business which has a social and/or environmental mission at its core…[but is also] targetting profitability alongside its social mission.

This works as a general definition. And makes the important point that investing in ‘impact’ is NOT philanthropy.

This point is reflected in Seedtribe’s model for selecting companies. There two key focus areas in our evaluation:

We are committed to generating returns for our investors. We select businesses that we believe have the strongest chance of achieving high-growth and/or high-profit. These will ultimately have the best chance of producing returns for investors. Our investment committee has 14 years’ experience investing in and raising finance for startups. It employs due diligence methods honed over this period to pick the most promising companies.

We are also committed to working on ‘impact’ businesses. Our investment committee also evaluates businesses according to criteria developed by the United Nations, known as ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). It is these businesses which we believe will produce positive and lasting change in the world and allow our investors to invest in impact.

But what are the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs)?

The SDGs, or Global Goals for Sustainable Development, are a collection of 17 global objectives set by the United Nations in 2015.

The 17 goals focus on global social, environmental and economic issues. Their purpose is to produce positive and lasting change across key development problems in all countries.

The official title for the project is ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

The goals are broad and interdependent, but each has its own specific targets. Each goal is described in brief below:

Goal 16: Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

How is Seedtribe helping?

The UN recognises that successful implementation of these targets will be most realistically achieved by individuals and institutions working towards them on a local and regional level. Lasting global impact will then be realised provided there is a sufficient collective effort across different regions.

Seedtribe aims to contribute to this collective effort. We help investors and entrepreneurs use their skills and resources to create impactful businesses with the potential to affect positive change across all these SDGs.

My first project when I joined Angel Investment Network back in 2014 was to organise a pitching event in central London. We selected five of the most exciting UK companies who were fundraising; we had no specific agenda to include impact companies – we just wanted innovation! We prepped them to pitch to 150 investors whom we had specially invited from our network.

Mike Lebus & James Badgett, the founders of Angel Investment Network, had already invested in what3words’ seed round – so they were keen for Chris Sheldrick, the CEO and co-founder, to put in a good performance.

He obliged. His understated charisma perfectly complemented the visionary nature of the project – dividing the globe into 57 trillion 3×3 squares and giving each a three-word “postcode”.

I was thoroughly impressed. The investors appeared less so, preferring to engage the other companies (some SaaS products and a few apps) in conversation during the post-pitch drinks. This lack of impact baffled me. I asked some of them what they thought of what3words – it was a cool idea but apparently, they couldn’t see its application.

Well, I’ll let you read for yourself in my interview with the what3words team below.

Prepare to have your mind blown…

The Interview

Part 1 – About what3words

What’s your mission?

We are on a mission to make the world more efficient, less frustrating and safer. Our goal is to be a global standard, giving everyone and everything a simple, accurate and reliable address they can use whenever they need it.

We want businesses, governments and services worldwide to use 3-word addresses to become more efficient, and improve their customer experience.

At the same time, we look forward to showing how better addressing can reduce businesses’ environmental impact, ease pressure on crowded cities, fuel economic growth in developing nations and save lives.

Who are your clients?

Our 3-word addresses are now used by over 650 businesses, government agencies and NGOs across over 170 countries, and by sectors including automotive, e-commerce, logistics, automotive & mobility, travel & navigation, post, national infrastructure, events, humanitarian, disaster response and emergency services.

Global logistics giant Aramex has integrated what3words to optimise its last mile operations in the Middle East and South Africa. Many other couriers and food delivery customers are using 3-word addresses, including Domino’s Pizza in Saudi Arabia.

National postal services in 10 countries to date have adopted what3words, giving over 200 million people an accurate and reliable address, many for the first time. Many of our customers are innovative future-facing companies including DXC Drones and IBM’s #AccessibleOlli.

Our humanitarian partners include the United Nations, who have adopted the what3words system for its disaster response and recovery app UN-ASIGN, alongside the Red Cross. Other NGOs include Gateway Health in South Africa, who are using what3words to address township homes on the outskirts of Durban, and who have trained local ambulance drivers to use 3-word addresses to reach pregnant women faster in the township areas, saving lives.

(Remember that application problem?)

What stage are you at?

what3words started in March 2013. A team of three managed it through its early development and funding. We now have over 70 employees across the world and we’re growing fast.

what3words can be easily integrated by businesses, governments and NGOs into apps, platforms or websites, with just a few lines of code using our online API or SDKs. Our free what3words app, available for iOS and Android, and the online map enable people to find, share and navigate to 3-word addresses is available in 22 languages. 3-word addresses can be switched instantly into any supported language, and even looked up in one language and shared in another.

Our newest product, 3WordPhoto, allows people to easily label photos with a 3-word address and share them in any language. This means that a simple photo, shared in a message or on Twitter, can give a precise location.

We have already had great success integration our system with voice input with specific automotive partners, and intend to roll out voice capability into our own products in the future.

What is your business model?

what3words is free for individuals, and qualifying not-for-profit and humanitarian entities.

For business use, we sell licenses for our products including our API and SDKs, and services such as very large-scale batch conversion of 3-word addresses to GPS coordinates or vice versa.

How much funding have you raised to date?

To get to where we are today we put a lot of energy into seeking out the right investors to bring the business credibility, contacts, experience, and knowledge as-as well as funding.

We are incredibly lucky to have a range of industry-experts backing what3words, all drawing upon extensive expertise, following successful careers in the automotive, technology, venture capital, and challenger sectors.

Earlier this year, Daimler acquired a 10% stake in the business, following the announcement that Mercedes-Benz is about to launch the world’s first car with built-in what3words voice navigation. Our Series B investment round was led by Aramex, with other notable investors including Deutsche Bahn and Intel Capital.

What’s next?

Within the next year, we will launch our 28th language, allowing 3.8 billion people to use 3-word addresses in their home language (that’s 51% of the world).

We also expect to open more local offices to add to those we’ve opened in Mongolia and South Africa.

Our growth plans involve more global integrations to add to Daimler, Aramex and the UN, along with focused local market activity targeting all sectors within one country or region, creating an ecosystem in which 3-word addresses become a standard.

An example of this is Mongolia, where what3words is already used for post, e-commerce, taxis, banking, fast-food delivery, tourism and microfinance.

Part 2 – What3Words on Impact

What does “impact” mean to you as a profit-driven company?

We believe that companies should do good by doing business. We want to make our system as accessible as possible – what3words is free for individuals, and qualifying not-for-profit and humanitarian entities.

The practical impact of what3words is very clear: we give everyone and everywhere a simple address. Providing a simple way to communicate the location of homes, remote areas and disaster zone enables social and economic inclusion, the delivery of mail and facilitates emergency responses, registering to vote or opening a bank account.

We recently conducted global research and discovered that an astonishing 33% of people are open to trying an entirely new form of addressing.

Can you give me an example of how what3words is used in the UK? And in the “developing world”?

The what3words technology is being used all across the UK: from a number of police forces to the emergency response teams at Glastonbury, delivery companies and Black Tomato a luxury travel company.

But it’s not just companies benefiting from the technology; individuals in the UK are using what3words every day to meet friends at festivals, organise running clubs in Hyde Park, planning hikes in the Peak District, communicate the location of injured animals on farms and to guide guests to their AirBnB entrances.

We are enabling everyone, everywhere in the world, whether they are in cities, on remote islands or even in tents on the Mongolian plains, to have a simple and reliable address.

An example of this, as mentioned above, is the fast developing country of Mongolia – remote and nomadic in culture – who have adopted what3words as their official addressing system. Now, for the first time, Mongolians are able to receive mail, register for a bank account and receive food deliveries – all by using a 3-word address. Similarly, we have been adopted by countries such as the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, and Nigeria as a recognised form of address.

Do you support any charities?

what3words is, and always will be free for not-for-profit and humanitarian entities. We are used by diverse humanitarian partners, and it’s powerful to see our technology supporting those in need. We were used by the Mexican Government to aid disaster relief during last year’s earthquake, and are being used today by the Red Cross, NATO and the United Nations to provide humanitarian aid.

We are also used by a number of smaller nonprofits – one of our earlier partnerships which still remains incredibly special to us is Gateway Health. The Gateway Health Institute provides healthcare and community services in disadvantaged areas across South Africa. They run programs to deliver medicine, supply emergency transport for women in labour, and identify hot spots for human rights abuses. But many of these programs struggle due to the lack of reliable addressing.

Gateway Health uses 3-word addresses in the township of KwaNdengezi, near Durban. The what3words grid system means that every part of the township – including homes, community centres and facilities like water pumps – already has a pre-assigned and fixed address.

Once a home knows its 3-word address, its residents can share the location accurately and reliably. Medical services can identify where pregnant women live and provide them with essential pre-natal care. Should any complications occur during labour, ambulance crews also know exactly where to go, to provide life-saving assistance.

What is your current biggest challenge?

Our biggest challenge is that we’re trying to effect a huge, global behavioural change. People have been using street addresses their entire lives, without questioning them. They get lost, packages go astray and billions of people worldwide have no address at all but, until they’re challenged to really think about it, some people don’t inherently feel there’s a problem.

We’re overcoming that challenge by refining how we clearly and quickly demonstrate the problem, finding examples (and there are so many) of when poor street addressing frustrates individuals and costs companies billions. As soon as people see how poor addressing affects them personally, they immediately see the need for our solution.

What are you most proud of/excited about for your business?

The Mercedes-Benz partnership was a huge achievement, and the announcement at CES was an incredible memorable moment for us. The process was also especially fast – taking only 6 months from inception to integration – and there are already over 700,000 cars on the road which are what3words enabled.

Because poor addressing affects so many industries – from navigation to travel, logistics to events – it’s exciting to see the tangible impact that our technology brings, and the room for exponential adoption. Bad addressing is so universal that our potential partners and use cases are unconstrained.

So where does what3words come on the Impact Scale?

The vision of this company is extraordinary. Four years ago it was so extraordinary that many of our investors could not see its application and potential impact. The what3words team’s execution over the past four years has made a mockery of that.

Here is a company that can count itself among the most innovative to come out of the UK tech scene in recent years. Who knows what the future holds for them but I’d put my money on good things!

Angel Investment Network’s latest project SeedTribe, which focuses on angel-led crowdfunding for impact companies, was built to help companies like what3words get off the ground and change the world. You can view latest impact companies here.

I hope that what3words’ story can inspire budding impact entrepreneurs and investors to build impactful companies.

Last month, I published our first ‘Impact Investing Interview’ with Work For Good who are revolutionising the market for corporate charity donations. Since the publication of that interview, Work For Good is now overfunding (accepting pledges until 30th April) on SeedTribe (Angel Investment Network’s impact-conscious crowdfunding platform). Thanks to those of you who contributed and shared!

For those new to impact investment, the post starts with a concise definition of impact investment, its benefits to investors and its ability to bring about positive and lasting change in the world.

The purpose of this series of interviews is to edify and entertain investors and entrepreneurs with an interest in impact and socially responsible investment/entrepreneurship.

Today’s interview is with Dean Fisher, the Director of Bow Street Media whose latest project ‘Film Ahoy‘ is bringing a socially-conscious angle to online film distribution. It’s an enormous market but often considered ethically-bankrupt.

Film Ahoy is working to change this…

The Interview

Part 1 – About Film Ahoy

What’s your mission?

Our mission is to create an alternative film distribution platform for both consumers and filmmakers. The product we’ve been developing will change the industry and offer great alternative programming. We plan to launch the platform soon with the aim to be online on mobile and eventually on smart TV’s.

Who are your clients?

The digital distribution market has now outgrown the physical distribution market. On one side, our clients are consumers who watch films online; and on the other side, content providers and filmmakers complete our client base.

What stage are you at in your business?

We have developed the technology and the website is ready to go live. We have also got on board an advertising partner who can start selling advertising on the site. So far we have secured over 150 titles to the site and will continue to grow the films on offer. We are going to soft launch the website and then start marketing it to consumers to build traffic and awareness for the Film Ahoy brand.

What’s your business model?

We acquire and place films on the Film Ahoy platform where consumers can watch them for free. All they have to do is watch 2-minute commercial breaks every twenty minutes. If they don’t want to watch the commercials, they will pay £1 per film to own the title and be free of commercials. All revenue is split 50/50 with the filmmakers. We will also generate additional revenue through ad placements on the site.

How much funding have you raised to date?

We have raised £67,500 through SEIS.

What’s next for your company?

We are launching the site in the next couple of weeks. There are a few tweaks being done by our developer next week and then we are ready to go. All of our marketing materials are in place and ready to go live. Each film’s trailer will also be promoted on the web through social media and advert placements. (Here’s a link to the new consumer advert).

Once the site starts to build traffic, we are going to produce the app for IOS and Android. We also have some options to put the site on Smart TV’s which will give the consumer every chance of using the platform.

Part 2 – Film Ahoy’s Potential Impact

What does “Impact” mean to you as a profit-driven company?

We will generate 50% from all advertising and pay per view revenue. We can also generate revenue from Google adverts, product placement, merchandise and the sale of statistics on how many times each film is viewed. The overheads of running the company are quite low so we feel we can turn this into a profitable business in a reasonable time frame.

What are the metrics you will use to track/measure your impact?

We have targets each year on how many views we are looking to achieve. We can assess our progress on a month by month basis. Our reporting system gives us the stats we need to monitor our progress. We can also what campaigns will help drive traffic to the site.

How do you go about choosing and confirming the films to list on your platform?

We attend film markets all year around. The three key film markets are Berlinale in February, Cannes in May and the AFM in November. At the markets, we meet with as many content providers as possible. These can be in the form of filmmakers, sales agents who represent films or distributors. So far we have some signed deals with a large number of companies. They provide us with multiple titles which we curate by initially watching the trailers and the films. At the end of the American Film Market, we had received over 1000 films.

What is the vision for the company?

The vision for the company is to launch in the UK first of all. We want to focus on building the brand and making the platform the go-to place for free independent films. Once we have established ourselves in the UK, we will then move into the US market.

Can you tell us more about the need for Film Ahoy in the film industry? What do you see as the biggest challenges in the film/media industry at the moment and how do you hope to address any of them?

The market has many subscription service providers for every genre. We feel we have a different angle and will appeal to both consumers and filmmakers. For consumers they do not want to subscribe to every service available and some people cannot afford monthly fees. Film Ahoy is an easy-to-use, no-commitment service. Consumers will put up with adverts if the content is free.

We don’t feel that an independent film should be £9.99 to purchase online. Independent films need to be more competitive and priced accordingly. When iTunes came out tracks were £0.69, this took away the need for people to download illegally as it was easier to purchase the track then look over the net and download a virus. Pricing films at £1 to own means that independent films can be competitive.

The industry is becoming more and more challenging. Hollywood Comic book films perform consistently but independent films have to fight to find their voice. We have got the support of the industry and many companies have signed up to provide content. For filmmakers, they can use Film Ahoy as an additional revenue stream. We will also be encouraging people to promote their films on the platform which will drive traffic to the site. Eventually, people will be making films just to go up on Film Ahoy which will give us unique content.

What is your current biggest challenge and how are you seeking to address it?

We feel we need a reasonable marketing budget to grow the company and create awareness for the brand. If we do not raise as much as we hope the growth of the company will be slower.

What are you most proud of/excited about for your business?

We feel this model can really shake up the industry. Cynical people would say how can you compete with Netflix or Amazon. The marketplace is big enough for new players and services which gives the consumer an alternative viewing experience. We feel that Film Ahoy can break into the market and become a global brand.

Interested in Impact Investment?

If you want to find out more about Film Ahoy and their current fundraising round, visit their pitch page on Seedtribe.

Do you anyone who might consider using Work For Good for their business?

What is Impact Investing?

Impact investing is when an investor backs a business which has a social and/or environmental mission at its core.

This is not the same as philanthropy where investors expect no returns on their investment other than the reputation boost; and an impactful business is not the same as a non-profit.

Impact investments are made, with financial returns in mind, into businesses targetting profitability alongside their social mission.

An impact investor is, therefore, someone who chooses to support great businesses aiming to do good and make money, rather than just turn a profit.

The decision to be an impact investor is an empowered choice which has already enabled many world-changing businesses to do great things. The rise in awareness of the key social and environmental issues of our time has started a shift in the way many investors view the desired outcome of their investments. More and more want their financial outlay to have an impact as well as generate returns.

What are we doing to help this movement?

Angel Investment Network recently launched Seedtribe to attract more of its investors into the impact investment space.

Seedtribe is an angel-led, crowdfunding platform when everyday investors can invest from as little as £1000 into opportunities backed by angel investors and curated by the Seedtribe team. Investments can be made directly through the platform so the process is as seamless as possible.

We are confident that this new model will help impact businesses complete their funding rounds quickly so that they can focus on bringing their benefit to the world.

We are delighted to have Work For Good as one of the first impactful businesses on the Seedtribe platform.

Who are Work For Good?

UK annual charity income is around £20bn, but only 2% of this comes from businesses, as the process is complex, costly and lacks transparency with many legal and tax impediments. Work For Good’s platform removes these barriers and has created a market for corporate giving.

Work for Good makes it easy for businesses to give in a way that’s good for them and charities – by doing what they already do. By giving through the Work For Good platform, they can impress their clients, inspire their people, and be a force for good in the world.

Liv Sibony recently took charge as the Head of Crowdfunding at Seedtribe and brought Work For Good onto the platform. (Liv previously founded and sold Grub Club, a platform aimed at helping chefs build a reputation and an income by hosting pop up dining experiences.)

She sat down with Danny Witter, CEO & Co-Founder of Work For Good, to get some insight into the problem of corporate giving and the Work For Good solution…

The Interview

What’s your vision for the company?

To make business giving the norm and to unleash the giving power of the business world. Business giving makes up only 2% of all charity income in the UK which is a disgraceful figure. We can not rely on the giants of the business world to do it for us, The FTSE 100 charitable donations are down 25% from 2013 to just £1.2 billion in 2016, so why not create a culture where the other 5.7 million businesses support causes just by doing the work they already do? If 5% of SMEs gave one day’s revenue, it would generate £208 million annually.

It also improves the bottom line for businesses (68% of SMEs believe their company’s donations to charity had a positive effect on their company’s profitability and 37% of SMEs claim that giving to charity helps to attract new clients) and improves employee morale while raising vital funds for charities.

For charities, especially the smaller, local ones who have less capacity to market themselves and seek donations, we will create greater visibility and support for them to grow their efforts and allow businesses to match with charities that are local or relevant to them.

We don’t think this vision should be limited to the UK either, we strive to see people working for good across the globe, and are delighted that we’ve now received trademark protection across the US and EU.

Can you tell us more about the meta-trend of purpose in business, as you see it?

Investing in good causes grows your business too. In fact, many companies are using it as a major part of their business strategy – TOMS’ ‘One for One’, Warby Parker’s ‘Buy a Pair, Give a Pair’, and Bombas socks ‘One pair purchased = One pair donated’ are just a few using ‘giving back’ as part of their marketing strategy. Cause-related marketing is not just a fad, it’s the response to consumers buying with their own values and in mind.

Consumers increasingly care about where their products come from and how businesses behave, and we see lots of marketing around sustainability and responsibility, and now, giving. The trend is deepening fast, and when in January Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, published a letter saying that firms that lack a social purpose “will ultimately lose the license to operate from key stakeholders” it marked a watershed moment in the importance of authentic corporate responsibility. This applies from global behemoths to sole traders, and Work for Good is particularly focussed on SMEs that have less resource to do so.

For all the personal graft no business was ever built by the founders alone. Just as it takes a village to raise a child it takes a community of stakeholders to build a business. Without loyal customers, reliable suppliers, supportive investors, engaged communities and dedicated employees you have no business. Today, these constituencies want more from the companies they interact with. They are as interested in the story behind the business, the purpose the drives it and the positive values that underpin it. It is no coincidence that B Corp businesses, exemplars of the purpose-led commercialism, have been shown to grow 28 times faster than the UK economy. The giving mechanisms on our platform can also allow for a company’s clients/customers to choose the charities to which they donate. It gets everyone involved and motivated.

Why is it currently so difficult for businesses to give to charities?

The mechanisms currently in place just do not create a marketplace for business and charities to find each other and make transactions. It’s not just as simple as seeing a charity you would like to support, and then donating. Charities often do not even have a payment portal on their sites. The days of writing a cheque are long gone. Charities also find it hard to cut through the noise to create relationships with relevant businesses who may be interested in supporting them.

Work for Good is encouraging businesses to give in a smart way that is good for business, specifically by linking donations visibly to what they do, and talk about it with pride and authenticity in a way that will engage all their stakeholders, and inspire other businesses to follow suit.

However if you link donations to sales and talk about it you get caught by the charities acts, which prescribe that you have to bilaterally negotiate a commercial participation agreement with every charity you might give to, and the charities have risk of paying VAT on those donations.

As such it is painful to implement, and many charities have minimum annual donation requirement of up to £100,000 a year before they’ll negotiate a CPA with a business, which excludes virtually all SMEs.

Work for Good has solved this, the combination of the terms a business signs with the platform and the terms signed by any charity jointly form the CPA, allowing businesses to give to as many charities as they like in a few clicks, in any size, and without having to engage the charities direct, with both parties being entirely compliant. There is also no VAT payable by the charity.

What does “Impact” mean to you as a profit-driven company?

It’s a way to merge the profit-generation that people already strive for with the purpose of producing a specific benefit to society. We want to maximise that impact potential for businesses.

For us, the amount of money going to charities via our platform is the metric we concentrate on most. We believe that good business should have a positive impact on society. Our mission is to create a culture of business giving and therefore an increase in the amount of donations charities receive from SMEs. We also believe that giving has a positive impact on a business’ bottom line – two-thirds of businesses we surveyed reported higher profits when they incorporated giving into their business strategy.

Interested in Impact Investment?

If you want to find out more about Work For Good and their current fundraising round, visit their pitch page on Seedtribe.

Do you anyone who might consider using Work For Good for their business?

Why is due diligence important?

In the past, if you wanted to find investment for your business, your options were closely tied to the reach of your personal network.

This had the following consequences:

On the one hand, any investor you were introduced would most likely have come from a referral you trusted. As a result, trusting the prospective investor and their credentials was relatively easy. Most of the due diligence was accomplished via the intimacy of the referral.

On the other hand, your reach would have been limited to your network. And as a result, many businesses would have failed to find funding because their entrepreneurs weren’t linked to any ‘Old Boys’ Club’ or similar.

Today, the rise of networking and connection sites like LinkedIn and more specifically, Angel Investment Network, means that you can now access investors from all over the world. Investors whose network would never have overlapped with yours.

This democratisation of access means that more and more people are receiving investment, irrespective of background. This is, of course, great news (though there is still much work to be done).

However, this brings its own dangers.

Entrepreneurs looking for funding are often in a vulnerable state. They have invested time, effort, passion and resources into a project, but they need financial support to take it further. As a result, they can be overeager to accept funding from wherever it is offered which can be a bad idea.

This is where simple due diligence work can help entrepreneurs to easily avoid the pitfalls of scammers and con-artists.

What is due diligence?

Due diligence is the general term used to describe any background check on a company or individual to see if they are legitimate and suitable to do business with.

Basically, in the case of angel investment, it’s checking that an investor is who they say they are and can help you in the ways they suggest they can.

This process starts, in a loose sense, from the moment you connect with a prospective investor as that’s when you start forming an impression of them. But you only need to formalise the process when you are sure they are interested.

You don’t then need to carry out full due diligence on every investor you speak to. But, when the relationship progresses to the point of meeting and discussing deal terms, then it’s a good idea to make sure you know exactly who you’re dealing with.

How do I perform due diligence on investors?

1. Talk to the investor

It is a good idea to be upfront and tell the investor that you want to research them.

This is such a simple course of action. But too many entrepreneurs are afraid of annoying their investor leads and scaring them away.

A good investor will not only understand why you want to check but will be reassured that you want to. It shows that you are diligent and professional.

Remember, they want to trust you too if they are going to invest in your company!

You can tell a lot from an investor’s reaction to this. If they help you in your research, then you’re onto a winner. They should provide you with links to their online profiles and emails addresses for people they have worked with.

If they are not happy with your desire to investigate them, it suggests they may have something to hide. A red flag for sure!

2. Conduct basic research online

A lot of investors will have websites, blogs, and profiles on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. They may be found in articles or have written articles themselves. These can all be found easily on Google.

Of course, a digital presence is more likely in different parts of the world and depends to some extent on the age demographic of the investor. So, you should factor this in.

3. Examine their business and financial status

You should ask the investor and anyone s/he puts you in touch with about their industry experience and about any previous investments. This will give you an idea of their authenticity as an investor and how useful they could be for you beyond simply financial help.

You will also want to find out where their funds are coming from – money from offshore accounts should be avoided unless they can give very good reasons (which you can verify with a lawyer).

You should also do a routine credit and criminal check.

4. Speak to any entrepreneurs the investor has worked with

A legitimate investor will let you which companies they have been/are involved with, and will give you a way to contact them. So, make sure you ask!

However, you may also want to do some research and approach people not referred by the investor.

You should dig into what the investor is like to work with and whether there were disagreements, and if so, whether/how they were resolved.

Try to do this in person as you’ll get a more detailed response. (Obviously, this won’t always be possible.)

5. Speak to other investors or brokers

If you can, speak to other investors (whether they have invested in your business or not). Ask them for a second opinion on your prospective investor.

Sometimes their reputation (good or bad) precedes them and other investors/brokers on the scene may be able to give you some useful insights.

6. Avoid upfront fees

Another major warning sign is if an investor asks for upfront fees before they invest. Fake investors will come up with all sorts of plausible reasons for the fee. These should be ignored without exception.

At Angel Investment Network, we constantly try to reiterate this to entrepreneurs on our platform:

No genuine investor will charge an upfront fee.

Conclusion:

While the danger is real, awareness of the information in this article and others like it, should provide every entrepreneur with a framework for spotting an investor who is not genuine.

They will, therefore, be able to process the situation rationally and to not act hastily in desperation to close their funding round.

There is a world of possibility out there for entrepreneurs. If it is treated with respect and due caution, it will yield its rewards.

An open letter to entrepreneurs who think their idea is worth stealing…

Dear smart person with $$$$ idea,

Well done on your $$$$ idea. I don’t know what the idea is (you won’t tell me!), but I’m sure it’s good.

Ideas are the motors of innovation; they move the world forward, often to a better place. Without them, civilization stagnates and withers away, pining for its former glory. Innovation is as essential to the world as food to our bodies, as love to our souls. So, thank you for your inspiration and for providing momentum to the great human mission.

Your idea is worth a lot. $$$$, as I understand it. In fact, it’s worth so much that telling people about it is a huge risk. What if they steal your idea? And with it your chance for $$$$? What a miserable outcome that would be. All your clever idea-making for nothing.

This line of reasoning produces the following reaction in many entrepreneurs:

They tell no one.
They don’t ask anyone for help, input, feedback, partnerships or funding.
They take the $$$$ idea to the grave.
Safely.

No one will find it there.

But what if you want to realise the dream? To execute your idea? That’s great. You’re the type of person who takes risks to make a difference. Your fearlessness to try and to be wrong again and again until you are right is supreme.

This is the crux of the matter. An idea alone means very little. No matter how innovative or original your idea seems, someone else has probably had the same idea. In fact, hundreds have probably had it.

What matters then is execution.

Execution over Idea. This phrase is now so often quoted that it seems cliché. But many people still fail to act on its message. So, why does execution trump idea?

As you start out on the journey of making your idea reality, every person you speak to will offer a slightly different perspective. The input of some will have more value than others, sure. But until you ask, it won’t be clear from which data points you will derive most value.

This is so important. What matters is that the more people you ask, the more data points you collect for decision-making. The more informed your decisions are, the better your execution will be. Without ‘talking’, how do you verify assumptions?

How do you know you are doing the right thing?

The truth of it is that no product matches the original idea born in the ‘lightbulb’ moment. Ever. No good product is the same as its first version or its second etc, necessarily. Products which survive and thrive are updated, continuously. Changing customer demands require constant innovation. To execute well, companies must be alive to this. They must be able to listen to feedback and iterate if need be.

This is widely understood and accepted for products which already exist in the marketplace. But, many people don’t see that this holds true for products which are still ideas. Executing well from idea-stage to completed product should be a similar process to updating an existing product based on customer needs.

Otherwise, you are building something without knowledge, without guidance, based only on your own opinion and assumptions.

How can that be good?

It can’t.

Consider this:

Your mother is retiring after 45 years. Her hard work ensured that you were fed, educated and entertained in warmth and security. Every good memory you have can be traced in some way to the opportunities her labour afforded you. You have a lot to be thankful for. You want to find the perfect gift to encapsulate how much she means to you.

Do you:

a) Go with the first idea that comes to mind.

b) Jar of dirt with a rude note about your deprived and wretched upbringing.

c) Brainstorm a few ideas that seem good to you. Then approach people who know your mother and ask what they think of your ideas and/or what they would give her in your position.

No prizes here!

Maybe one in a thousand times you’ll be blessed with a moment of visionary inspiration and option a) will work. But, those are not good odds. Especially when your mother’s happiness or the success of your dream business is at stake.

Consider this too:

Imagine a hypothetical situation in which you have the choice of investing in one of two companies at concept stage. Which would you choose for a £100,000 investment?

1. An average idea guaranteed to be executed outstandingly

OR,

2. An outstanding idea guaranteed to be executed averagely

While it is possible for great ideas to be successful through semi-competent, muddled execution, in the game of probability, your best bet will be to focus on a concept which is being executed efficiently and powerfully.

This ties in with a point I made in my post “How do investors evaluate startup pitches?” The article was based on a piece by Silicon Valley investor Paul Graham on his blog. The core point was that good investors spend a large portion of their due diligence analysing the merits of the team behind the project. Why? Because they know that the idea in its current form will have to go through many iterations before it can be truly successful. Given this, they want to be sure that the team are good enough to navigate the choppy waters of building a great product to fit their market.

In other words, they want to be sure that the EXECUTION is going to be on point.

You should not be concerned about someone stealing your idea. You should be concerned about someone executing it better than you.

Some of the best businesses are simple ideas.

Google’s core concept allows people to search for stuff on the internet. But it wasn’t the first internet search engine. Henry Ford built the most successful car manufacturing company of the 20th Century. But he didn’t invent the automobile.

What made them so successful?

You guessed it.

Execution.

Google brought the dynamism associated with startups to the corporate level. This means that it can measure and respond to changing user demands rapidly (and that it is an attractive place for top talent). There is a great article on TechCrunch about this called Why Google beat Yahoo in the war for the internet. (Worth a read if you have time).

Henry Ford helped revolutionise factory efficiency by sponsoring the development of the assembly line, and in so doing, he was able to mass produce the first affordable car.

They did the idea best. There was no pretence to ownership of the idea; no notion of ‘my’ idea. They just found an idea and executed it. That’s how they now own it.

This is not to say that the idea isn’t important. Terrible ideas don’t get very far. But how can you truly know whether the idea is good or bad until you share it and learn?

I am not suggesting that it’s okay to be totally indiscreet. There is merit in hiding what you are doing from competitors etc. You should be judicious in your choice of people to share it with. But not to the point of telling no-one!

We sometimes encounter this problem on Angel Investment Network. An entrepreneur wants to raise money for their concept. They sign up and submit a pitch. But they don’t want to reveal too much in case someone pinches the idea. And their pitch ends up containing no interesting info for our investors.

If you want to raise money from investors, you should be prepared to sell your idea. And to sell, you must tell; the story, the numbers, the notion. Otherwise, someone else will. It’s that simple.

In practical terms, there are protective measures available:

– NDA’s – You can ask anyone you show the idea to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement. This means you have a contract with them. This can work out fine. But it is also a huge turn-off and friction point. Most VCs will tell you to get lost – they understand that execution beats idea!

– Teaser Pitches – you can try to write your initial pitch as a teaser which reveals enough to get people interested to sign an NDA. But this a real art form and there is a danger that you undersell the business and lose out on valuable feedback and/or leads.

– Patents/Trademarks – depending on your business, you can consider getting legal patents and trademarks for the idea.

These can all be useful ways of protection in some cases. But they do not grant 100% protection. And they can be impediments to getting useful feedback – the sort of feedback, which means your execution is good. The only way to get close to 100% protection is to make your business better than the rest! And to keep doing so. That’s what the best companies do.

In summary…

I commend you for your $$$$ idea. But I urge you to be brave. To hold your idea up for scrutiny. To listen to the feedback that will allow you to execute well; the feedback that will transform your idea into a successful and lucrative reality.

It is the fearless who change the world. Those with the courage to learn and listen; with the courage to face criticism; with the courage to be continuously wrong until they are right. And when they are right, they get it so right.

The startup community is an admirable one. You can expect a warm and attentive reception – the feedback will be critical, but that’s why it’s so useful. So, I encourage you to take full advantage of this. You can be sure your competitors will be (unless you still think they are trying to steal your idea).

Last week, I wrote an article called ‘How to Update your Investors for best results’. The post set out the importance of updating your investors; and how you should go about it. I laid out a useful (hopefully!) formula for your updates. And gave you some real-world examples from fast-growth companies in my network like Sweatcoin and ScreenCloud.

The post proved more popular than I expected; a number of people have been kind enough to contact me with their thoughts. The response was positive except for one thing: I had only covered one aspect of a broader theme…

Investor Relations.

Last week’s post gave advice for the tail end of the fundraising process i.e. after investors have actually invested in your business.

But what about before they’ve invested? When you’re still trying to persuade them to do so?

Angel Investment Network connects angel investors with startups looking for funding, contacts, advisory board members etc. It would be remiss of me not to complete the picture and give advice on investor relations for the first half of the fundraising process…

Engaging Potential Investors

When interacting with people you hope to convince to invest in your company, there are 3 principal types of interaction you will have:

1. Reaching out
2. Responding
3. Reminding

In this post, you will learn the best practices for each type of interaction.

I’ve been helping people do this for a long time now. I’ve seen some hilarious but tragic examples of how not to do it! But more importantly, I’ve built up a picture of the best approaches. I hope this article means that you or anyone you share it with can avoid the common conversation-ending mistakes.

The aim is to help you generate more leads, and convert a higher percentage into investors.

Reaching Out

To be clear, this section does not deal with how to find investors. That’s a different question for another time. You can find some ideas here though.

But assuming you’ve identified and acquired the contact details of potential investors, how do you go about approaching them?

Reaching out to potential investors is a tricky business. People hate cold approaches. Even if your company is the next big thing, people have a strong aversion to being hailed from out of the blue. A stranger danger thing perhaps. But get the tone and hook just right though, and you can overcome this aversion.

How?

The key is to keep the email short. Value is king. People want to understand it quickly. If they see huge chunks of text in an initial email, they will be put off before even reading.

At the same time, if you shorten your email but lose the articulation of your value proposition. Then the hook is gone.

So, while moderating the length, you need keep your sights on the purpose of the message. The ability to do this ultimately comes down to being able to pitch your venture clearly and concisely.

This is crucial. The purpose of the email is not to explain the whole idea. It’s to hook the contact into wanting to know more. Once you’ve engaged them, you can dive into the detail.

The question you need to ask yourself is:

“What is the most attractive thing about my business likely to be for this potential investor?”

If you can answer this, then you can frame your message around it.

What are some good hooks?

– Introductions – if you can be introduced by someone they trust and know, your chances of engagement increase dramatically

– Problem/solution articulation – can work for early-stage projects but is risky because they might not see the problem as you do

Beware, there are also some “anti-hooks”!

A contact of mine was approaching a VC company in London. He made the mistake of asking for an NDA. They never replied. Annoyed, he ACTUALLY walked into their offices and asked why he never got a response. They explained the NDA turn off and sent him on his way. (More on this next week).

Summary:

Keep it short and make sure your hook is clear.

End with a call-to-action. This gives them a framework to respond. At this stage, the most likely example is:“Can I send you some more info? I’d love to get your feedback.”

Responding

This interaction is particularly important to anyone raising via the Angel Investment Network platform. On the platform, an entrepreneur submits a pitch using the template and onscreen instructions which is listed and sent to the network of angel investors. Interested investors can then click to connect. It’s at this point only that the entrepreneur can message an investor. So, there’s a lot riding on the response!

That said, this advice goes for any time you receive a message/email from an investor whether they are reaching out or responding to you.

What should you do then?

The advice is dead simple. But you’d be amazed how often I see people do the opposite.

– Respond promptly (24-48 hours)
Quick responses make investors feel important. They also show that you are professional and organised.

– Avoid spelling and grammar errors
Duh!

– Make sure you address every point they make
You’ll leave a bad impression if you don’t have a considered response to address every issue they raise.

– Avoid blocks of text
Blocks are boring. And not easy to digest. Address questions/points they make with bullet points or numbering.

– End with a call-to-action
This gives them a framework for responding and will increase the chances that they do.

This advice seems so trivial that it pains me to write it (the first 3 in particular). But I’ve seen it go wrong too many times through haste, laziness and even stupidity.

Last year, I watched the final night of a play written by a friend. At the party afterwards, I was talking to one of the actors. During the performance we had all remarked on his incredibly muscular physique – the man was a monstrous! I asked him ‘why’.

“Why so much gym?”

His response impressed me. And can be applied to this situation and many others.

He said;

“Control the things you can control.”

In his case, he realised that one of the reasons he didn’t get every part he auditioned for was because he was out of shape. But more importantly, he realised that this was an aspect of his life and attitude that he could directly address. And as a result, he would optimise his chances of getting great roles. (I’m afraid I can’t say who he is!)

So, to optimise your chances, ‘control the things you can control’.

Remember this interaction with investors is a bit like an audition. The reality of it is that investors don’t have much time to judge you. Their impression of you will be created over the course of a few emails, a call and perhaps a coffee.

When deciding to invest a considerable sum of money in someone, that’s not a lot to go on!

So, in the small window of opportunity you are given to make an impression, ensure that what can be polished is polished. That way, you’ve given yourself the best chance.

Reminding

So, you reached out to an investor, they responded, you exchanged a few emails discussing the venture, it all seemed to be going so well. But now they’ve gone dead. No response to your last message. Cue tumbleweed and depression…

What can you do?

The first thing to remember is that in most cases, any investor worth having is going to be very busy.

So, you should never take it personally if you don’t get a response for a while. You don’t know what’s happening at the other end. They may be taking the time to carry out proper due diligence and discussions with various people before pushing ahead.

There is no sense fretting and waiting for a response. It may never come. In which case, you’ve wasted valuable time worrying about it. Equally, it may come. In which case, you’ve also wasted time.

That said, you shouldn’t wait indefinitely. It is perfectly acceptable to nudge people to respond.

But how do you do it without royally p***ing them off?!

Time is important. DO NOT nudge anyone if they haven’t responded after 3 days. (Unless they specifically asked you to).

7-10 days is an acceptable interlude. But longer is fine too. I was helping someone raise money once: we actually met the investor face-to-face before pitching anything as we had been connected via a strong introduction. He then said he would follow up via email after he had had time to think.

We waited 29 days and had given up all hope when his email finally came through. It was a positive one too!

What about the content of a reminder?

This will vary according to time and circumstance. But there is an optimal approach.

Consider:
a)

“Hi X,

Did you have any more thoughts about our project?

Thanks,
Founder Y”

b)

“Hi X,

It’s been a good few [insert time period] since we last spoke.

We are showing strong growth across the following key metrics: [insert impressive figures].

Also, [insert Mr/Mrs Big Deal] has committed £X and joined the advisory board.

Did you have any more thoughts about our project?

Thanks,
Founder Y”

Sometimes approach a) may be appropriate. But most of the time, b) will be better.

The reason for this is momentum.

This builds on the ‘hook’ idea we looked out when discussing reaching out to investors. You have to give them some incentive to respond. Hack their desire to engage with you.

At this stage of the process, you can do this by the impression of momentum. By updating them on your good progress, you can make them feel like the opportunity is a train leaving the station. Without them.

Fear of missing out is a strong psychological influence to tap into. No investor wants your business to be the one that got away. So, make them feel like it is getting away with positive updates in your reminders. You should find an uplift in engagement.

Investor Updates: Why? How? When?

What you’ll get from this post:

1. Why you should update your investors

2. A template for great updates

“We connect entrepreneurs and angel investors.”

That’s our tagline at Angel Investment Network. We’ve been doing it for 14 years so it makes sense! We help make the initial connection that results in feedback, meetings and often investment. Startups get the funding they require. Investors get access to great and diverse deal flow.

This is useful (we hope!). But only as far as it goes. There’s a danger this gives the impression that the relationship between entrepreneur and investor only needs to be fostered at the very start.

This is not true, of course.

Why?

Investor = Evangelist

Any investor in your company can be an evangelist. And an important one. The best investors are not those who sit silently hoping their portfolio grows. They are the people who bring to bear all their resources to help their companies grow. But there is no guarantee they will always do this just because they invested.

It’s down to you to keep them engaged. Your updates will give them the inclination and the material to shout about you to their network.

Investor = Wise

Sure, you wanted investors for their cash. But if that was all you wanted from them, it was short-sighted. It’s a truism about angel investors that they bring more to the table than money. A good angel will have a wealth of experience in business and hopefully your sector.

But they are busy people with active interests all over the place. You’ll only get their attention if you engage them enough to deserve it.
So, let them be a light for you when all other lights go out.

Investor = Capital Mine

Some businesses only need one funding round. Some businesses go through many as part of their growth strategy. It’s not always clear which business yours will be. But it would be naive to think that you’ll never do another round.

And who are likely to be your hottest leads for later rounds?

Your existing investors of course!

They will want to avoid dilution and help the company in which they’ve invested grow. Additionally, they will want to bring on more people to invest. It’s in their interest, after all, to support the company in its growth.

That said, there’s no guarantee they will want to invest more or bring their friends on board. If you haven’t fostered the relationship and kept the excitement burning, they may want to cut their losses.

But, if you’ve kept them sweet with exciting updates, they’ll be champing at the bit to buy in and involve their network.

Finally…

It’s good business practice to update your shareholders regularly. (Once a month is optimal and what the companies in my examples below go for). Good habits breed good habits. The more you force yourself to go through the motions of running a business properly, the more ably you will run the business, until it’s second nature. And, all of a sudden, you’re a business leader.

So, how then should you update investors?

It’s quite easy really. There’s a formula you can follow each time. Just have the relevant info ready for each section and input when your update is due:

Intro:

Open with some positive statement about the exciting times the company has been going through since the last update. This should set the tone of the email.

Overview/Highlights:

Investors are almost always busy people. There is no guarantee that they will read your whole email. In this overview, give the main points you want to put across. This should give them enough info to feel enthused about you and their investment without having to read more. It also serves a secondary purpose – it should entice them to read the rest of the email!

e.g.
– Revenue is up XX%
– New Product ABC is in the final testing phases. Watch this space.
– We closed two new major partnerships with Huge Brand X & Huge Brand Y.
– Big Deal XY joined the team/board. He/she will….

Key Metrics:

Your key metrics are the figures that show your concept works. They are the essential validation on which investor confidence hangs.
These figures will differ from company to company, but your presentation of them is the same.

e.g.
We’ve seen impressive momentum across our key metrics. KPI 1 has grown XX% month-to-month. KPI 2 has grown XX% month-to-month. We are on course for a huge {insert current month}.

This information can be displayed in a graph. Hopefully, one that looks like this:

Fundraising:

If you’re raising money, give details. You may want to indicate the impressive people/funds you are in talks with; and how far advanced the talks are.

You can also include your latest deck as an attachment. And invite them to take a look. Don’t forget to engage them directly by asking for feedback or to share with any contact who may be interested.

Learnings:

Investors may also be interested in your personal growth as a management team. So, details of any findings from tests, campaigns and product launches will make interesting reading. They may also encourage investors to give advice.

Team:

If someone on the team has had a big impact, you could shout about it here. The employee will thank you for it! It also adds to the general impression of accomplishment and progress you should be conveying throughout the whole email.

Future:

What are the plans, challenges and targets for the next period? Keeping the goals of the company in front of your investors is a great way to keep them aligned with your interests. And it will demonstrate that their investment is in competent hands.

Don’t hold back from requesting advice on any of the challenges ahead. Delve into the acumen of your investors and all the while keep them engaged.

There you have it. An important task fulfilled with minimal hassle.

It’s important to note that this formula is not prescriptive. Only mention sections that are relevant. There may be sections specific to you that you want to add too.

These emails do not have to be long (more on this in the examples below). Short and sweet will suit investors. But make sure you cover the essential details so investors don’t feel shortchanged.

There is no excuse. And, as we’ve seen, the upsides are huge.

Some Real-world Example Updates

This update from Sweatcoin is a masterclass in keeping it ‘short and sweet’. No bluster. No fluff. Just hard traction. It’s easy for them because they are growing so fast (they’ve added another million users in the last month!).

ScreenCloud’s is a longer piece which follows our update template more closely, making good use of HTML to give clear structure. Note how they give that important overview section for those who don’t read long emails!

It’s worth saying that both companies do a good job of creating a sense of excitement and progress. They go about it in different ways, perhaps due to time constraints and what they find manageable. The point is that the info and the impression put across in both is excellent.

N.B. All this advice works as a template for keeping prospective investors interested; and investors you never closed too – make them feel like they missed out!